Wednesday, November 11, 2020

November 11 - Ernest Ansermet (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Ernest Ansermet (1 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)[1] was a Swiss conductor.

[For last year's thoughts on Ernestine Anderson click here .] 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DECCAdence


The orchestra had a long-standing contract for recordings with Decca Records, dating from the tenure of Ansermet, and made over 300 recordings for Decca… --Wikipedia, s.v. Orchestre de la Suisse Romande


Ansermet disapproved of Stravinsky's practice of revising his works, and always played the original versions. -- Wikipedia, s.v. Ernest Ansermet


Ansermet, who proudly spawned

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,

Was duly signed and in the stable 

Of the fabled Decca label,

Where the flood of his releases

Soon reached several hundred pieces,

Recording everything in sight,

Except he had no appetite

For Schoenberg or for Schoenberg’s minions,

About whom he had strong opinions.

Stravinsky, on the other hand,

Was always welcomed by the band.

And, in fact, he was convinced he

Knew it better than Stravinsky.


If you were a record buyer

Everything you might require

Was in the stack as it grew higher.


And since the standard concert fare

Was (all of it!) recorded there,

FM stations found that they

Thrived on Ernest Ansermet.

 

 

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